The new 13-inch models start at $1,199 and feature Intel’s new Sandy Bridge architecture along with integrated Intel HD Graphics 3000 with 384MB of DDR3SDRAM shared with the main memory. The base model sports a 2.3 Ghz dual core Intel Core i5 processor while the $1,499 model features a 2.7 Ghz dual-core i7 processor. “The powerful 15-inch and 17-inch MacBook Pro models feature quad-core Core i7 processors up to 2.3 GHz and AMD Radeon HD graphics processors with up to 1GB of video memory for high performance gaming, pro video editing and graphics intensive applications”, Apple explained in a press release.

The new MacBooks are of course the first computers on the market to feature Light Peak technology which supports data transfers of 10 Gbps in both directions. Impressively, the protocol also supports USB, DisplayPort, and Firewire.

MacBook Pro is the first computer on the market to include the groundbreaking Thunderbolt I/O technology. Developed by Intel with collaboration from Apple, Thunderbolt enables expandability never before possible on a notebook computer. Featuring two bi-directional channels with transfer speeds up to an amazing 10Gbps each, Thunderbolt delivers PCI Express directly to external high performance peripherals such as RAID arrays, and can support FireWire and USB consumer devices and Gigabit Ethernet networks via adapters. Thunderbolt also supports DisplayPort for high resolution displays and works with existing adapters for HDMI, DVI and VGA displays. Freely available for implementation on systems, cables and devices, Thunderbolt technology is expected to be widely adopted as a new standard for high performance I/O.

Also of note is the new FaceTime HD camera which triples the resolution of the previous iSight cameras.